I encountered this splendid group of Willamette Valley pinot noir wines at a trade tasting in Memphis last week, these examples I tried merely a fraction of the tremendous line-up available. Just within this group, you will notice that the focus primarily is not on deeply extracted colors, flavors or tannins but on classic delicacy, nuance and subtlety, all, of course, displayed with varying degrees of interest and emphasis. I was particularly happy to taste three pinots from Rex Hill, whose wines I have not tried in many years. Notice, also, how many of these wines exhibit refreshing alcohol levels under 14 percent. As usual with the Weekend Wine Sips, I don’t provide extensive information about history, geography, geology, personality or winemaking techniques; just quick reviews designed to pique your attention and whet your palates. Enjoy!.
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Argyle Reserve Pinot Noir 2010, Willamette Valley. 13.5% alc. Medium ruby color; utterly beguiling bouquet of red currants and blueberries, hints of cola, cloves and rhubarb, background of graphite, briers and brambles; satiny flow and drape on the palate, builds a sense of layering fruit, acidity and tannins with elegance, balance and integration; wholly seamless spice-and-mineral packed finish. Now through 2015 to ’17. Excellent. About $40.
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Argyle Spirithouse Pinot Noir 2009, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley. 14% alc. Slightly darker medium ruby color, with a mulberry cast; fleshed out dimension and detail, red currants, black cherries and a touch of plum, cloves, sassafras, earthy and loamy; more power here, more resonance from velvety tannins, brisk acidity and polished oak that contributes seductive notes of sandalwood and allspice but also a touch of austerity to the finish. Now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $75.
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Cloudline Pinot Noir 2011, Willamette Valley. 13.5% alc. The second label of Domaine Drouhin. Light ruby-mulberry color; earthy, slightly mushroomy bouquet, ripe, spicy macerated red currants and cherries, touch of cranberry; lots of graphite and loam, brier and brambles, pert acidity that cuts a swath on the palate; quite dry; has the fleet tone and litheness of a Savigny-les-Beaune. Now through 2014 or ’15. Very Good+. About $20, representing Good Value.
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Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir 2010, Willamette Valley. 14.1% alc. That lovely ineffable pale ruby-magenta color that pinot noirs ought to have; very pure, very intense; black and red cherries, touches of red currants and cranberries; paradoxically lean and muscular with a seductive satiny texture; deep elements of loam, briers and forest-floor; spicy character is very subtle, black and red fruit flavors feel just a bit spiced and macerated; long finish freighted with minerals and earthy elements. Great winemaking. Now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $40.
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Domaine Serene Yamhill Cuvée Pinot Noir 2009, Willamette Valley. 14.3% alc. Winsome moderate ruby-mulberry color; knock-out nose of cloves and sassafras, rose petals and violets, slightly roasted and fleshy black and red cherries and currants, back-note of earth and graphite; gratifying balance of power and elegance but with a healthy bit of rusticity that lends texture and contrast; spicy, dark and delicious. Now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $45.Image, much cropped, from sipswirlsavor.com.
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Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir 2008, Willamette Valley. 14.1% alc. One of the most striking and beautiful pinot noirs I have tasted; “serene” indeed in every aspect yet with a seething depth of exotic dried spice, dried flowers and potpourri, essential acidity for liveliness and allure, and the resonance of exquisitely poised tannins and graphite/loamy mineral elements; you could swim in the entrancing and stunningly perfumed aromas; super-satiny texture but lapped with both delicacy and assurance; a pinot noir of immense presence, tone and confidence yet fundamentally a creature of fastidious refinement. Now through 2016 to 2020. Exceptional. About $65.
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Francis Tannahill Hermit Pinot Noir 2009, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley. 13.9% alc. Slightly more extracted than some of these other models, the color here is moderate ruby-magenta with a darker and quite radiant center; just gorgeous, a real flower-spice-and-fruit-filled sensuous lob across home-plate, but you feel the oak from mid-palate back with a hint of austerity and a subtle bolstering of the structure; give it a year or two to meld a little better and then drink through 2017 to ’19. Production was 236 cases. Excellent. About $48.
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Le Cadeau Red Label Pinot Noir 2010, Oregon. 14.5% alc. The winery’s entry level pinot is clean fresh and bright, a winsome amalgam of red currants and cranberries, with a hint of cherry and rhubarb, touches of cloves, leather, briers and brambles, a seductive satiny texture, and then a dry finish that reveals the sanded and burnished influence of oak, all played for sweet balance and integration. 150 cases. Now through 2015 or ’16. Very Good+. About $38.The label image is one vintage behind.
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Le Cadeau Diversité Pinot Noir 2009, Willamette Valley. 14.1% alc. Medium ruby color; a sizable pinot noir, not plush or opulent but multi-dimensioned and richly detailed; it’s quite dense, quite dusty, and bears a minerally graphite and earthy core straight through the middle, all wrapped in dried baking spices, violets and potpourri and ripe and slightly macerated red currants and cherries touched by notes of blueberry and cranberry; briery and brambly, a bit of forest floor with the innate dried leaf and moss elements, and finally the oak comes through, building momentum. Try from 2014 through 2018 to 2020. Production was 320 cases. Excellent. About $48.
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Le Cadeau Equinoxe 2008, Willamette Valley. 14.1% alc. Medium ruby color shading to mulberry at the rim; at four years old and a bit more brilliantly fresh, spicy and appealing, with a surface of clean, ripe black and red cherry scents and flavors tinged with a fleshy character and depths of cloves and sandalwood, rose petals and graphite; grows more dense, opens to dusty mineral-flecked tannins and polished oak that drives the finish to a dry and powerful surge. Now through 2018 to 2020. Production was 196 cases. Excellent. About $50.
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Rex Hill Pinot Noir 2010, Willamette Valley. 13% alc. Made from sustainably-grown grapes from every AVA in Willamette Valley. Moderate ruby color with a flush of magenta and purple; ravishing bouquet of smoke, wheatmeal, tobacco, spiced and macerated red and black cherries and currants, hints of cloves and sandalwood; lovely ripe black and red fruit flavors, balletic on the one hand, earthy on the other hand, quite dry though, a little austere, high-toned, long in the reach and grasp of the finish. Great winemaking. Now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $35.
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Rex Hill Reserve Pinot Noir 2010, Willamette Valley. 13.5% alc. Medium ruby color with a permeating tinge of mulberry-purple; beautiful, bright, generous and expansive initially but shifting to magisterial, fairly dramatic and demanding; beguiling red currant and cherry flavors (just a hint of cranberry and rhubarb), deep, drenched with spice but still you feel the oak and tannin in a spreading tide; quite dry, briers and underbrush, a touch of dusty graphite, all packed into the long finish. 2014 through 2018 to 2020. Excellent. About $48.
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Rex Hill Jacob-Hunt Pinot Noir 2010, Willamette Valley. 13.5% alc. Again that ineffable transparent medium ruby-mulberry color that belies the power and substantial character of this single-vineyard pinot noir; deep, rich, fleshy and meaty, almost abjures any spicy qualities for remarkable purity and intensity of pinot noir expression sustained by acidity that cuts a swath on the palate and a burgeoning sense of oak and tannin; in fact, of this group of Willamette Valley pinot noir, this Rex Hill Jacob-Hunt ’10 is the most focused on structure. Try from 2014 or ’15 through 2019 to ’22. Excellent. About $58.
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Planet Oregon Pinot Noir 2011, Willamette Valley. A label for sustainable, reasonably priced pinot noir from the Soter winery. Beguiling light to medium ruby color; a delicate and subtle pinot noir, finely knit from red and black currant and cherry scents and flavors gently sifted with cola, cloves and rhubarb and slightly roughened, as if sanded by nuances of mild foresty and earthy elements. Now through 2014. Very Good+. About $20, representing Good Value.The label image is two vintages behind.
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Soter North Valley Pinot Noir 2010, Willamette Valley. 13.6% alc. Hate to flog the word “lovely,” but most of these wines qualify on several counts or all counts, so here we go: Just freakin’ lovely pinot noir; woven from many strands of delicate shading into an entity of tensile strength; red fruit through and through — currants, cherries and plums — exquisitely molded with hints of cranberry, cloves and sandalwood; seamless tone and structure, balance and poise, finespun, insinuating yet firm; you could drink this forever, if such an opportunity arose, but to be realistic, through 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $30, Great Value for the Price and Quality.
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Soter Mineral Springs Pinot Noir 2010, Yamhill-Carlton District, Willamette Valley. 13.8% alc. Medium ruby color; very finely melded and knit in all elements but displaying power and resonance in sustaining structure and moderately dusty, earthy tannins; brightly etched red and blue fruit, that is, red currants and cherries with a hint of blueberries and plums; also brightly etched is the keen acidity that makes this pinot noir attractive and mouthwatering; still, you feel the slightly woody spice and touch of graphite from mid-palate back through the dry, slightly austere finish. Say, 2014 through 2018 or ’19. Excellent. About $50.
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